Mining still king industry in Isaac

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

ALMOST 40% of Isaac's workforce is in the mining sector, which has contributed over $9 billion to the economy.

According to the latest report from REDC, the Isaac council area contributed $11.7 billion to gross regional product last financial year.

REDC deputy chief executive Amanda Camm said this was 53% of the gross regional product. The region includes Mackay and Whitsunday.

"We are the number one regional economy in Queensland," she said.

About 77% of Isaac's economy was based on mining.

"It is heavily attributed to mining," Ms Camm said.

"And that places us in good stead from an economic point of view, given the challenges other parts of the state have at the moment."

Most people in Isaac are employed as machinery operators and drivers, which make up 24.3% of jobs. The second highest were technical and trade workers with 20.6%.

According to the report, the input from the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector dropped by 20% compared to the previous year, but still contributed $97.2 million. This sector employs 8.5% of the workforce.

Despite the drops, Isaac's regional product was eight times higher than the Queensland average, the report said.

Investment properties also continued to be the highest performers in the state. The report said only 20.8% of Isaac residents owned their home while 60% rented and 14.6% had a mortgage.

Ms Camm said these statistics showed the region was contributing to the state and the rest of the country.

"It certainly is a talking point around the investment sector," she said.

REDC compiles the regional profile reports annually. Mackay's report was released last week and the profile for the Whitsunday area will be published tomorrow night.